Power To The People
Our ‘Power To The People’ show is on November 18th, 2018 at The People’s Theatre in Heaton, Newcastle. All the songs we are singing were written in support of change for the better. Here is part 1 of ‘Meet the Songs’…
The Toon Improvement Bill – Episode 1
We’ve already established early on that we’ll all be spending a substantial amount of time with this song and its lyrics. Therefore, it only seems fitting to dedicate the first blog of the ‘Meet The Songs’ series to The Toon Improvement Bill. Special treatment also as this has been written by a guest blogger! Drum roll please…
It’s Sing United’s very own Peter Berrie!!!! Peter has a passion for Genealogy (family history to you and I!) He loves studying families and tracing their lineages and history. Peter is behind the recently launched Genealogy Cafe which brings together his love of family history and the world. If you want a chat about your family history or don’t know how to go about researching your roots, Peter’s your man! He has kindly offered to use his passion and skills in researching one of the more challenging songs in our show.
Ned Corvan – The Toon Improvement Bill. 1850s protest song.
Ned was born in Liverpool around 1830 and moved to Newcastle when he was 4 years old. He only lived to the age of 35 when he succumbed to tuberculosis, but during his short life he became very well known for his Tyneside songs. He also opened and ran Corvan’s Music Hall in South Shields for some years. Ned’s songs looked at life from the working man’s point of view.
Ned Corvan and the Forth
The Toon Improvement Bill is a typical example which complains about the council selling recreational space in the city off to become the sites of more buildings. The Forth is mentioned in the chorus but I wonder how many lifelong Geordies know what and where it was.
Well, you may know the road called Forth Banks – a steep road that climbs straight up from the river to the back of Central Station. From medieval times until the 1850s, an enclosure called the Forth stood near the top of Forth Banks. I haven’t found an accurate map but it would have been close to the Centre for Life. The Forth was a 4 acre square garden with a low brick wall and broad gravel paths shaded by two rows of lime trees. Over the centuries, it had many uses. It was used for Tradesmen Assemblies – The Smiths, The Coopers and The Cordwainers met there until the early 1700s. It was used for bowling, for archery, military processions and, yes, for Easter Egg rolling – but above all it was a place of recreation where you might see a family on a Sunday walk, people dancing or children playing.
The end of the Forth…
The demise of the Forth started from 1840, some time before the council sold it off. The trees died one by one, the wooden benches decayed or were torn out for firewood. The grass disappeared and the middle of the Forth became a boggy mess. This all was helped along by the growth of heavy industry nearby that spoiled the original view over the countryside and choked the air.
If you’re interested in delving even deeper than Peter has shared about the historical background on The Forth then you can by clicking here.
What’s next?
In episode 2 Peter will tell us about the Council debates on the Toon Improvement Bill and it’s perhaps not what you’re expecting!
